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No-notice night jump by Mile-Hi raises grumbling in Longmont

By Scott RochatLongmont Times-Call

Posted:
08/07/2013 08:06:10 PM MDT

Updated:
08/07/2013 08:07:13 PM MDT

Mile-Hi Skydiving's Twin Otter plane took to the skies late Friday night. According to Vance Brand Municipal Airport manager Tim Barth, Mile-Hi did not alert the city or neighbors of the airport that there would be nighttime skydiving on Friday.
(
RICHARD M. HACKETT
)

LONGMONT -- An unannounced nighttime skydive Friday by Mile-Hi Skydiving has stirred up both neighbors and Longmont officials, saying they should have been told.

"This was something we had an agreement on with the owner of Mile-Hi, that he would at least notify us," Councilman Gabe Santos said late Tuesday. "I saw it as a business acting in good faith, to try to alleviate some concerns of the surrounding residents. I'm very disappointed that that agreement is pretty much brushed to the side."

Airport manager Tim Barth said there had never been a formal agreement, but that Mile-Hi had usually told him in advance of night jumps as a courtesy. The city would then circulate the information, both to warn those who disliked the noise and to alert those who might enjoy watching the jump.

This time, Barth said, Mile-Hi didn't alert anyone -- including him.

"It's not a rule or a regulation or a requirement that they notify us," Barth said Wednesday. "But it would have been a nice courtesy call to let folks know."

Mile-Hi owner Frank Casares was out of town Wednesday and could not be reached for comment. Disputes between Mile-Hi and some of its neighbors over claims of excessive noise have been frequent.

In an email to the City Council, Barth said he met with Casares on Sunday about the night skydive and that the owner said he had decided the notifications no longer had a point.

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"Frank stated that he sees no reason he should continue going above and beyond for the same 15 to 20 people who continually call the airport, the council and his business," Barth wrote Monday. "Frank feels he is going to bear the brunt whether people are notified or not. Frank believes he is already trying, or has tried to nobody's satisfaction, of appeasing the folks who are arduously opposed to his skydiving business."

The jump, which some said went past midnight, led to other emails besides Barth's.

"I was in the basement when I first heard Frank last night," resident John Bowker wrote to the council Saturday. "Basement, as in 'below the ground.' He had inserted himself into the sound track of the movie I was watching. Hard to imagine that the dialog could be interfered with from one small, irrelevant engine that is 2.5 miles away. Yet it does."

"If there was a bar making this much late night noise, it would be shut down," wrote resident Mark Zentner on Friday. He added in a follow-up email Saturday that "I have no problem with the airport in general. I have a huge problem with a single business that is allowed to make such noise so late at night."

Noise abatement is recommended but not required at Vance Brand Municipal Airport. In the past, the Federal Aviation Administration has said that Longmont can't single out one business at the airport to limit hours or days of operation and that noise reduction procedures have to be voluntary so that pilots can adjust for conditions.

Councilman Brian Bagley suggested Tuesday that a written understanding with Mile-Hi might be in order. Although the city can't require anything, he said, it could try to negotiate with Mile-Hi to take some steps, such as warning of night jumps or restricting Sunday hours.

"We can't yell at them," he said. "We can't scream at them. We can't force them. But we might want to offer them a carrot."

Santos said he'd like to sit down with Mile-Hi and at least get the night notifications back again.

"I think it's vital that we have this," Santos said. "I'm a little upset with the owner of Mile-Hi right now."

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